Thieves hit a business twice within 24 hours to steal computer gear worth more than £80,000 and cause more than £20,000 of damage.

The gang broke into ICP Networks, at Deanway Business Park, in Handforth, on Saturday and Sunday night.

It is the third time the business has been burgled in four months. In June, thieves used a sledgehammer to break through a wall on the first floor to steal £35,000 worth of equipment.

ICP Networks, which sells high-end networking and server room equipment, is now offering a ‘significant’ reward for information that leads to the culprits and equipment.

Owner Matt Archer, 42, said the gang had opened up the building ‘like a tin can’.

On the Saturday the gang were seen on CCTV twice. Mr Archer said: “They took around 100 items and needed two trips to take what they were after. The fact they returned within an hour suggested possible local connections.”

The gang then returned the next day and took more equipment.

Mr Archer said: “It’s galling to have your business targeted and doubly so to be hit so soon afterwards. I’m numb from the experience but I’m also angry. I can’t believe that there are people out there who make a living of other people’s misery.”

Mr Archer, who lives locally, started ICP in 2002 and deals with big-name brands such as Cisco, Nokia and Nortel. He said: “We are a well-resourced and governed company and will survive this, but I want to see these people caught.”

Sgt Andy Miller said: “Only a handful of companies deal in these items worldwide. This is possibly a theft to order, but these items are serialised and traceable.”